Cruise News: On-Board Breweries, 6-Month Voyage & More

Here’s a quick look at what’s new this week in cruising, and how it could impact your next trip…

Craft beer lovers will have something new to crow about on the 3,954-passenger Carnival Vista, Carnival Cruise Line‘s soon-to-debut largest-ever ship. The ship’s real onboard brewery will handcraft beer in partnership with Miami’s Concrete Beach Brewery. The land-based folks are creating the recipes and sourcing the ingredients for ship-brewed ThirstyFrog Port Hoppin’ IPA, ThirstyFrog Caribbean Wheat Lager, and a rich FriskyFrog Java Stout. The fun starts in May.

How many people want to go around the world in 180 days? So many that for a fifth time Oceania Cruises is doing a six-month world cruise, with the epic adventure embarking in January 2018. The once-in-a-lifetime sailing on the 684-passenger Insignia will take passengers to 87 ports in 40 countries across 39,000 nautical miles.

Holland America Line is betting the Mexican Riviera is ready for a comeback. The line is doubling down on the route for the upcoming fall/winter season with a bigger ship, the 1,916-passenger Westerdam, plus an increased schedule of week-long, round-trip itineraries out of San Diego. Cruisers can say “Ole!” in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán, and Puerto Vallarta.

A lesson for cruisers comes from the Portuguese island of Madeira, where a 65-year-old British woman mistakenly thought she could catch her missed ship by jumping into the water and swimming. She was in the Atlantic for hours before fishermen came to the rescue, her handbag reportedly keeping her afloat.

What do cruisers actually do on vacation? They eat more, drink more, and have more sex than they do at home, according to an MMGY Global research study reported at the recent Seatrade Global Cruise conference in Fort Lauderdale. No wonder cruising is such a good time.